CIO Cycle team to tackle Olympic road race course

On Sunday 31 July a team of CIOs will ride the 2012 London Olympics cycling road race course and raise money for mental illness as the inaugural CIO Cycle networking session takes place within the Prudential Ride London-Surrey 100.

CIOs from media, construction and information services will ride the 100 mile course as the first team to network in a peloton. Christina Ashton, SVP Technology at Thomson Reuters will line up alongside Mike Gibbons, CIO at Aggregate Industries, Tom Saunders, IT Director of Aldermore Bank; and Richard Piercy, Group CIO at leading technology and business media organisation UBM plc. CIO Cycle has been formed by Pat Lynes, CEO of Sullivan & Stanley, a CIO and interim recruitment specialist and Mark Chillingworth, CIO Editor at Horizon, which brings innovation leaders together.

Starting from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, Prudential Ride London-Surrey 100 will take the CIO Cycle team through the heart of London and out to Surrey via home of motor racing Weybridge, close to Guildford and and over Leith Hill, popular amongst mountain bikers before racing through the picturesque town of Dorking, over Box Hill, made famous by the Olympics and Jane Austen, then on to Horizon’s home town of Leatherhead and back into the capital city for an enigmatic finish on the Mall.

CIO Cycle will do more than be a pedal powered networking session for CIOs to compare notes on, the team is raising money for Oakleaf, a mental health charity in Surrey which is a social enterprise providing vocational training for those suffering from mental health issues.

Oakleaf providings training in horticulture, upholstery, IT and print finishing, enabling people to acquire new skills and ultimately return to work. Alongside these the Guildford based charity offer a range of social inclusion activities that cater towards building confidence, physical health and wellbeing. Oakleaf operates as a social enterprise, selling high quality upholstery, gardening and print finishing and fulfilment services.

CIO Cycle intends to become a networking opportunity for the growing number of CIOs that cycle to relax from the intensity of modern innovation leadership. A range of C-suite events are being prepared by the Horizon and Sullivan and Stanley team for the cycling tech leaders.

Sullivan and Stanley is a new model of recruitment that offers organisations a CIO and a team as a service when CEOs need a new team to bring about major change or deliver projects. Horizon is the UK’s leading media outlet for news, interviews and events for CIOs, CTOs and innovation leaders.

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Featured Columnist | Mark Aikman

Listed in the CIO 100 for 2017, Mark is a Technology Leader working with Global companies, IT operations and leadership of highly complex change and digital transformation programmes. He has an innovative and contemporary approach to leadership and partnership, and is passionate about delivering successful business outcomes using technology rejuvenations. His background spans many verticals such as FMCG, Finance & Insurance, Oil & Gas and Telecommunications, leading major operations and transformations at North Group, BP, T-Mobile and the Cadbury Schweppes organisations.